Bringing total to 8. The American Legislative Exchange Council, a right-wing corporate front group that helped passed "stand your ground" laws and voter suppression initiatives in states across the country, lost two more member companies. In an email sent to Color of Change, a progressive group organizing the petition against ALEC, Mars, Inc., the maker of M&M's and Snickers, announced that they have "decided not to renew the ALEC membership in 2012." Arizona's largest energy company, Arizona Public Service, has severed ties with ALEC as well. Following pressure from progressives, a host of other companies announced they would no longer contribute to ALEC in the past two weeks, including Coca Cola, Pepsi Co, Intuit, Kraft, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wendy's.